Slajd 1

1
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Zdzislaw Glebocki, Ph.D.

2
The purpose of the course is to 1.
Familiarize students with general issues of
cultural studies, taking the point of view of
cultural anthropology. 2. Prepare students to
handle cultural topics in their future diploma
work. 3. Enable students to function better in
English-speaking cultures and in global
community. 4. Prepare students to participate in
their own culture more consciously.
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Zdzislaw Glebocki, Ph.D.
3
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Zdzislaw Glebocki, Ph.D.
Topics Human Culture Language and
Culture Patterns of Subsistence Economic
Systems Social Organization Kinship Sex and
Marriage Process of Socialization Ethnicity and
Race Political Organization Social
Control Anthropology of Religion Culture Change
4

• Course Requirements
• Participation in lectures is not compulsory
• BUT
• - Students are expected to complete assigned
  week-to-week tasks (readings and activities)
• - Final written examination
• - During the exam, you will be responsible to
  know the issues, concepts and terminology
  discussed in the assigned readings and covered
  during the lecture.
• - During the exam you will report on the
  assigned article. The assigned article will be in
  Polish and the question(s) refering to it will
  also be in Polish. You are also expected do
  conduct a short research on the author of the
  article.

Introduction to Cultural Studies
Zdzislaw Glebocki, Ph.D.
5
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Zdzislaw Glebocki, Ph.D.
Readings Haviland, William A., Cultural
Anthropology. The Human Change, Wadsworth,
2005. Burszta, J. Wojciech, Antropologia
Kultury, Zysk i S-ka, 1998. Kloskowska,
Antonina, Socjologia Kultury, PWN,
1983. Nowicka, Ewa, Swiat czlowieka, swiat
kultury. Systematyczny wyklad problemów
antropologii kulturowej. PWN, 1997. Antropologi
a Kultury. Zagadnienia i wybór tekstów, WUW, 2005.
6
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Laurie Anderson The Ugly One With The Jewels
Key-words anthropologist birdlike tiny tower
over (sb) mill lopsided charred braid puddle thatc
hed cupcake beaver dam rimmed stare transparent sa
fekeeping

7
Introduction to Cultural Studies

Laurie Anderson The Ugly One With The Jewels
Anthropological perspective Meeting The
Other, culture loss, fieldwork, informants,
linguistic anthropology, participant observation,
ethnology (systematic comparisons), ethnography,
cultural system, holistic perspective, value
system (sense of beauty), social/gender
roles/identity, globalization, culture change,
acculturation.
8

The Sacred Rac An Indian anthropologist,
Chandra Thapar, made a study of foreign cultures
which had customs similar to those of his native
land. One culture in particular fascinated him
because it reveres one animal as sacred, much as
the people in India revere the cow. The tribe
Dr. Thapar studied is called the Asu and is found
on the North American continent north of the
Tarahumara of Mexico. Though it seems to be a
highly developed society of its type, it has an
overwhelming preoccupation with the care and
feeding of the rac - an animal much like a bull
in size, strength and temperament. In the Asu
tribe, it is almost a social obligation to own at
least one if not more racs. Anyone not possessing
at least one is held in low esteem by the
community because he is too poor to maintain one
of the beasts properly. Some members of the
tribe, to display their wealth and prestige, even
own herds of racs. Unfortunately the rac breed
is not very healthy and usually does not live
more than five to seven years. Each family
invests large sums of money each year to keep its
rac healthy and shod, for it has a tendency to
throw its shoes often. There are rac specialists
in each community, perhaps more than one if the
community is particularly wealthy. These
specialists, however due to the long period of
ritual training they must undergo and to the
difficulty of obtaining the right selection of
charms to treat the rac, demand costly offerings
whenever a tribesman must treat his ailing rac.
At the age of sixteen in many Asu communities,
many youths undergo a puberty rite in which the
rac figures prominently. The youth must petition
a high priest in a grand temple. He is then
initiated into the ceremonies that surround the
care of the rac and is permitted to keep a rac.
Although the rac may be used as a beast of
burden, it has many habits which would be
considered by other cultures as detrimental to
the life of the society. In the first place the
rac breed is increasing at a very rapid rate and
the Asu tribesmen have given no thought to
curbing the rac population. As a consequence the
Asu must build more and more paths for rac to
travel on since its delicate health and its love
of racing other racs at high speeds necessitates
that special areas be set aside for its use. The
cost of smoothing the earth is too costly for any
one individual to undertake, so it has become a
community project and each tribesman must pay an
annual tax to build new paths and maintain the
old. There are so many paths needed that some
people move their homes because the rac paths
must be as straight as possible to keep the
animal from injuring itself. Dr. Thapar also
notes that unlike the cow, which many people in
his country hold sacred, the excrement of the rac
cannot be used as either fuel or fertilizer. On
the contrary, its excrement is exceptionally foul
and totally useless. Worst of all, the rac is
prone to rampages in which it runs down anything
in its path, much like stampeding cattle.
Estimates are that the rac kills thousands of the
Asu in a year. Despite the rac's high cost of
its upkeep, the damage it does to the land, and
its habit of destructive rampages, the Asu still
regard it as being essential to the survival of
their culture.

9
At the age of sixteen in many Asu communities,
many youths undergo a puberty rite in which the
rac figures prominently. The youth must petition
a high priest in a grand temple. He is then
initiated into the ceremonies that surround the
care of the rac and is permitted to keep a rac.
Although the rac may be used as a beast of
burden, it has many habits which would be
considered by other cultures as detrimental to
the life of the society. In the first place the
rac breed is increasing at a very rapid rate and
the Asu tribesmen have given no thought to
curbing the rac population. As a consequence the
Asu must build more and more paths for rac to
travel on since its delicate health and its love
of racing other racs at high speeds necessitates
that special areas be set aside for its use. The
cost of smoothing the earth is too costly for any
one individual to undertake, so it has become a
community project and each tribesman must pay an
annual tax to build new paths and maintain the
old. There are so many paths needed that some
people move their homes because the rac paths
must be as straight as possible to keep the
animal from injuring itself. Dr. Thapar also
notes that unlike the cow, which many people in
his country hold sacred, the excrement of the rac
cannot be used as either fuel or fertilizer. On
the contrary, its excrement is exceptionally foul
and totally useless. Worst of all, the rac is
prone to rampages in which it runs down anything
in its path, much like stampeding cattle.
Estimates are that the rac kills thousands of the
Asu in a year. Despite the rac's high cost of
its upkeep, the damage it does to the land, and
its habit of destructive rampages, the Asu still
regard it as being essential to the survival of
their culture.


10
The Sacred Rac

• Rac, Asu
• Care and feeding
• Throw its shoes
• Rac specialists
• Offerings
• Treat the rac
• Puberty rite
• Paths
• Excrement

• Car, USA,
• Maintenance
• Change tires
• Mechanics
• Payment
• Repair
• Getting a driving licence
• Roads, highways
• Car exhaust (fumes)

11
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Zdzislaw Glebocki, Ph.D.
Millennium Tribal Wisdom and the Modern
World" (1992) Harvard anthropologist
Maybury-Lewis looks toward the tribal societies
that Western civilization has swept aside for
insight into how their traditions may be able to
prevent humans from destroying themselves in the
next millennium. PART ONE The shock of the
other